Our man Simon Thomas was in South Africa for Wales' entire tour and it was some journey. For most of yesterday's epic Test, he thought he was watching history unfold. Here's how he saw it

South Africa 31-30 Wales

With little more than two minutes left on the clock, they were six points up and on course for their first ever win over the Springboks on South African soil.

But yet again, that elusive southern hemisphere scalp was to elude them as victory was snatched from their grasp at the death.

Refusing to concede defeat, the ‘Boks hurled themselves forward and as the ball was moved right, George North was caught too narrow in defence, enabling his opposite number Cornal Hendricks to get outside him.

For a moment, it seemed as though Liam Williams had saved the day as he smashed Hendricks into touch.

But it soon became apparent that all was not well. Replays showed that Williams had not used any arms on the ‘Boks speedster and you suddenly feared the worst.

It was a hit reminiscent of JPR Williams’ shoulder barge on French wing Jean-Francois Gourdon at the Arms Park in 1976.

It was a defeat that was so hard to bear because Wales had deserved to win and really should have, having led 17-0 in the first-half and then 30-17 with just eight minutes left.

Gatland’s men had been unrecognisable from the side thumped 38-16 in the first Test at Durban’s Kings Park a week earlier.

They were far more aggressive both at the breakdown and in defence, while they were also a real potent force in attack, scoring three tries through Jamie Roberts, Alex Cuthbert and Ken Owens.

They recycled and retained possession so much better, building the phases and stretching the opposition defence, while they varied their game nicely.

When it was on they put the ball through the hands behind, while they also showed they were able to mix it up front and make the hard yards through their forwards.

The kicking game was much improved too, as they kicked longer to pin danger man Willie le Roux deeper downfield rather than opting for up and unders.

It was a real team effort, but there were some truly outstanding individual performances from skipper Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Gethin Jenkins and Cuthbert, while Mike Phillips answered his critics.

Cuthbert was virtually unstoppable in the first-half and was at the heart of both of Wales’ opening two tries as they were rewarded for a commanding start to the game.

On 19 minutes, he came off his wing, took a feed from Biggar and broke the attempted tackle of Steyn before giving the inside scoring pass to Roberts who went under the posts.

Then just three minutes later, he was involved twice in the second try.

As Wales built the pressure in the opposition 22, he made the telling incision, showing huge strength as he burst through a couple of defenders to take play up to the line.

And then when the ball came back a couple of phases later, he was on hand to take another short pass from Biggar at pace, half break the tackle and stretch out for the line.

Watch: Andy Howell answers your post-match questions

You knew there was a still long way to go though and that the Boks would surely come into the game at some point. That they did in no uncertain terms with two quick-fire tries of their own.

But what was really impressive for me was the guts Wales showed after seeing their 17-0 lead eaten away following the yellow carding of Luke Charteris and Biggar.

Both men were binned for offences as the Springboks mighty driving maul ploughed remorselessly towards the line, with Biggar’s also resulting in a penalty try, while his departure left them down to 13 men and simply unable to prevent Hendricks galloping over.

That made it 17-14 at half-time and you feared the hosts might take charge after the break.

But restored to their full compliment, Wales took a grip on proceedings once more.

From an attacking lineout five minutes after the resumption, they went through a series of forward carries, with Dan Lydiate and Alun Wyn making good ground and it was Cannonball Ken Owens who provided the finish, with the TMO confirming he had just made the whitewash on the charge.

With Biggar adding the conversion and two more penalties to take his match haul up to 15 points, Wales were 30-17 up with just eight minutes to go and history really was beckoning.

But you learn not to count your chickens when covering Wales and you also know not to write off the ‘Boks.

It was the visitors’ nemesis from Durban, Le Roux, who returned to haunt them, as the brave Welsh defence was finally breached, with the full-back cutting between Owens and Jonathan Davies to reach the line.

But as the clock ticked away, you started to wonder if the long, long wait for a southern scalp was about to come to an end, especially when the tourists had a scrum in the opposition half with just four minutes left.

Yet when the ball spilt out from the under-pressure scrum, Wales conceded a penalty in retreat at the resulting ruck and they were suddenly under the cosh.

And the rest is history, just sadly not the kind of history we had all been hoping for.

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